Ramblings from Russia

November 8, 2009

Greetings one and all,

My walking shoes are taking on a scuffed, well used look as I spent hours each day walking around on my week off checking out the sights of St. Petersburg. I certainly hit all the highlights and mapped out each day's adventure by neighborhoods. There's so much to see and do here but I only scratched the surface. I attempted to visit one museum, one palace and one church each day. Some of my favorite walks are following the canals that thread their way through the city. The architecture here is amazing and each building has its own charm. The colors are soft pastels yet warm and muted. I appreciate the fact that older buildings are not razed but renovated. There are very few modern looking structures at least in the heart of the city.

Some of the museums I visited this week are:

The Russian Museum which is housed in four separate buildings (ex-palaces).

The Ethnographic Museum where costumes, crafts, tools, weapons, art work , photos from the different people that make up Russia are exhibited. It was very interesting to see how similar native Alaskan people's clothing, boats, tools etc. are to their Russian neighbors.

Kunsthammer Museum where Peter the Great housed all this anthropoligical expedition finds from different countries. There was a whole section on Alaska native people which I found quite interesting. We did belong to Russia at one time in history.

The Pushkin Museum where the famous poet lived and wrote. It's only two doors down from where I live. He died in a duel defending his wife's honor.

Today I tried in vain to find the Dostoevsky apartment Museum. I walked at least an hour trying to find it but since the signs are written in Russian it eluded me. I am determined to find it on a less rainy day. By the time I returned home from my search I settled down with a cup of hot tea . I'll save Crime and Punishment for another day.

My favorite church is The Church of Spilled Blood which is the most colorful, onion domed Disneyland looking church here. The inside is so amazing with hundreds of mosaics which seem to glow from within. I was so glad I had rented an audio guide. It took 24 years to build the church and 27 years to restore it after the war where it was used as a food storage facility and later a morgue. I learned that the reason for the onion dome architecture is that the snow falls off easily and also that the domes resemble candles pointing towards heaven. I visited several other churches as well but this one takes the cake.

I saw an exhibit of the Canadian artist, Robert Bateman, at The Mikhailovsky Castle. Most of the palaces and castles are now used as museums or art galleries.

Fortunately most of the week I had lovely cold, and crisp weather with snow flurries off and on. On a full moon evening I went to the top floor of my apartment building and up on the roof to take some night time photos of the moon and the skyline.

I attended a performance of the opera "Carmen" which was 41/2 hours long. The music, drama, costumes, scenery etc. made the time go by so fast. The champagne at intermission helped too. I though of you Michele when the torreador sang his song. I remember you at our college apartment listening to Carmen.

I am so tickled that Tom is coming to see me in my Russian exile. He'll arrive on Nov. 19 for 10 days. My friend Laurie Schoenberger is also coming on Nov. 13 for a week. It will be such fun to show both of them the sights.

I feel I am museumed, churched and palaced out for now and ready to get back to The Cathedral of the Classroom with my 15 living icons tomorrow.

Wishing you well. Until next week....

Love,
Kathy